This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.
July 14, 2005
DOE and USCAR Invest $195 Million in Energy-Efficient Vehicles
DOE and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) announced on July 14th an agreement to develop advanced high-performance batteries for electric, hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicle applications. USCAR facilitates cooperative research among DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation. The agreement could reach $125 million over five years; combined with a similar $70-million agreement signed in May, the total joint investments in vehicle technologies could reach $195 million over the next five years.
As part of the new agreement, DOE's FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program and USCAR's U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) will split the cost of research and development for a number of new battery materials and technologies that have the potential to increase energy storage and charge/discharge performance, improve durability and reliability, and reduce cost. See the DOE press release, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman's comments at the signing, the related DOE press release from May 26th, and the DOE FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program.
The DOE/USCAR partnership has been ongoing for more than ten years, and one of its major accomplishments has been the development of the nickel metal hydride battery technology used in most hybrid electric vehicles. USABC is also pursuing the development of advanced lithium-ion systems, which offer the promise of compact, longer-life, high-power and high-energy batteries for electric, hybrid-electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. See the USABC page on the USCAR Web site.
